


Here Begins

by m_class



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Babyfic, Delivery room snuggling, Fluff, Gen, deliberately vague mention of a partner...pick yr own pairing, just-post-birth fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 23:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_class/pseuds/m_class
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Bigger than I thought she’d be,” she mumbles.</p><p>“I’m surprised to hear you say that. I’m sure her size has been causing you considerable inconvenience over the last couple of months.”</p><p>“Other things inside me. Liver. Stomach. Things.” Kathryn yawns, eyelids drooping. “Naomi was tiny. Miral...tiny. I’m tiny. Wouldn’t think someone thiiis biiig could fit in me...”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here Begins

“Hello again, beautiful,” she whispers, stretching out her arms. Glancing up at the Doctor: “That was the longest ten minutes of my life.”

“Well, someone’s all washed and dressed and ready to snuggle with Mommy again,” he coos. Whether it’s a delivery room subroutine kicking in, or he’s fallen prey to the same newborn-induced inanity as the humans in the room, Kathryn won’t venture to guess.

Besides, she has far, far more interesting things to think about.

“Aren’t you clean,” she whispers to the tiny face looking up at her. “So clean and dry. I told you the Doctor would take good care of you. I...” She lets her own stream of inanity trail off, watching the newborn wriggle slightly in the soft white blanket, examining her mother through half-lidded blue eyes.

“She can see you best about ten centimeters from your face,” the EMH instructs gently, picking up the remote to half-close the blinds against the bright San Francisco morning sun. Kathryn does some wriggling around of her own, settling lower on the pillows so she can cradle the baby against her chest at the appropriate distance.

She does not think she will want to look at anything other than this tiny face ever again.

“Bigger than I thought she’d be,” she mumbles.

“I’m surprised to hear you say that. I’m sure her size has been causing you considerable inconvenience over the last couple of months.”

“Other things inside me. Liver. Stomach. Things.” Kathryn yawns, eyelids drooping. “Naomi was tiny. Miral...tiny.  _I’m_  tiny. Wouldn’t think someone _thiiis biiig_ could fit in me...”

She can hear a smile in his voice as he returns, “Well, apparently last night she decided that she couldn’t.”

“Mm-hmm.” Another yawn. “Where’s my coffee?”

“I’m sure the lure of a waiting wife and daughter will bring your assigned coffeebearer back as fast as possible,” the EMH says drily. “Whether said wife and daughter will still be awake seems to be a matter of some doubt...”

She’s barely listening, drinking in every detail of the little face, this little person she thought for so many years she would never get a chance to bring into being. A core-deep pang of sadness lances through her as she thinks of another face, other eyes bearing a striking resemblence to her own, looking at her from the end of life rather than the beginning of it.  _I’m sorry, Admiral Janeway. I’m sorry you never got to hold her. I’m sorry you died without knowing if_ I  _would get to hold her. I wish there was a way to tell you, now._

_Maybe, some way, somehow, Universe willing, you know._

As if laying to rest the same thoughts, Kathryn’s daughter blinks dramatically, with an expression of intense focus. Then her tiny eyes scrunch closed, face gradually relaxing into sleep.

“Not tiny eyes, really. Your eyes as big now as they’ll be when you’re my age. You know that? Human eyeballs don’t...thing. Grow. Don’t grow. Just your eyelids are tiny. But don’t worry, they’ll grow. You’ll grow.”

The Doctor is humming to himself, but softly. Kathryn takes one last, lingering look at the infant in her arms before surrendering to the weight dragging her own eyelids down.

_I’ve waited for you so long._

By the time the coffee arrives, both Janeways have drifted off to a well-earned sleep.


End file.
